All Hands On Deck!

The time has finally arrived!  We will now commence to building the deck.  Oh, how we have looked forward to this day.  As a matter of fact, we started planning the design of our deck shortly after the renovation of the back room of our house back in January '08.  You should definitely go and check out that blog because it has a pretty good slideshow of the before and (almost) after of that project.

The renovation of that back room changed the layout of how one exits our house from the back.  This path was originally through the back door located in the kitchen then through and out through the side of the mudroom.  We removed both of those doors enabling a much larger kitchen and put a new double door heading straight out the back from the center of that room.  This left us with about a 4 foot drop for which Jacob and I built a staircase in August '09.  Yes, I waited 19 months to build a staircase to a door that I installed.

The deck design has changed in several ways over the course of the last few weeks.  Here's a 3D rendering of our original design.  I haven't wasted the time making an updated version of the 3D rendering since actually building the deck is 3D enough for me.  But, I wanted you, the reader, to be able to visualize it.  I actually made this design public on this blog back in 2011 when I was building the outdoor closet and redesigned basement door.  This rendering isn't accurate for height, though.  We'll have three steps coming down to the deck from our back door and then three more going down from the deck to the brick patio.  Also, we took out the angle coming from the house on the left side in the rendering. 

Our deck will go straight out towards the property line giving us much more space.  And, we are incorporating a privacy fence on that side of the deck.  Without it we would feel a bit on display to the home next door.  We haven't decided on the style yet, but I kind of like this one pictured here.  Click on it to make it bigger.

We started this project Nov. 9 &10.  My mother took the children for the weekend so that Jodi and I could get a jump start on the project.  And, we did, too.  We dug all 13 holes for the posts and poured a total of 1280 lbs of concrete.  Last week, we got all the landscaping fabric down and all the post brackets bolted in place.  Then, we started with the rock.

I called around and got a cheap price for clean gravel, but the cost of delivery was way too high, so I just figured I'd get it myself.  I got one ton dumped in the back of my truck and it took me and my friend, Matt, close to an hour to get it out and then spread out.  I would've needed to do that probably three more times, so we decided delivery may be worth it after all.  I called around again and got a cheap delivery price with just a little bit more money for the rock.  It was totally worth it.  We got the rest of what we needed (2.25 tons) and all I had to do was spread it in place.  Though, I did get overworked that night, got a slight fever, couldn't eat, threw up my lunch, but then felt much better afterwards.

I just got the last of the beams in place last night.  My favorite part was getting this part done and then going out to the yard and looking across all of the beams to see them in perfect alignment.  I mean, PERFECT alignment.  But, what do I expect?  Of course, it's perfect.  I've been planning this deck for almost six years.

Tonight, will be a joist filled evening!

Here's a quick link to the next deck update blog.

Posted in: autobiography,DIY,home renovation